Old Tappan track coach Brandon Gregory lost his home in a fire in the fall. The North Jersey community is lending a hand.

"If I took everything that everyone offered me, I would have to have a garage sale," Gregory said with a laugh.

A fire in his Englewood home left the veteran Old Tappan track coach without his belongings. He knows some things aren't replaceable, like his son Brandon Jr.'s track medals and The Record Athlete of the Week drawing, but thanks to the work of several members of the North Jersey athletic community, Gregory is back on his bowed legs.

"Just the support that people have shown, sometimes you think people are not caring and generous, but then you go through a tragedy and you realize people are good," said Gregory.

Gregory is a hard-to-miss presence at track meets. You feel him before you see him. His voice is part growl and part windsong. His walk? Well, he's having hip surgery next month so he can turn his shuffle into a stride again.

"He's kind of like an old-school guy," said Old Tappan head track coach Peter Dunn. "He doesn't like computers that much, or the statistics. He works with the individual he is coaching and it works for him and the kids respond to it. He knows who is good, but he focuses more on his kids."

In other words, Gregory, a graduate of Dwight Morrow, works on the kids he has as opposed to worrying what the other kids are going to run.

At its core, track and field is about times and measures, and every day can be a success if you throw the discus one inch more than yesterday or run that mile a second faster. Sometimes the happiest person at a track meet isn't the one who finished first; it's the one who did something they never thought they could.

That's what Gregory preaches to the Golden Knights. It can be a hard lesson to get across.

"I know I'm different as far as my coaching approach. I'm different than everyone in Bergen County, but I do what I think is right," said Gregory. "At Old Tappan, they've allowed me to be who I am."

Gregory also is humble, maybe to a fault. Recently separated, Gregory moved into an apartment in Englewood in the fall. He was out getting something to eat when an electrical problem burned the place down.

At first, he didn't tell anyone about the fire. He told Brandon Jr. the next day. Dunn said he didn't find out until a few days later.

"Well, I try to be an example to my children," said Gregory. "Even when there is adversity in life, you have to manage your way through it. So I wanted to show them how to handle adversity instead of shutting down."

It's a nice thought, but in this case, Gregory might have not realized the number of people waiting to swoop in and help.

Another Old Tappan track coach, Antonio Marino, set up a FundMe.com site where people could donate money to Gregory. As of Monday afternoon, 98 people had given $8,600, including one anonymous $500 gift. River Dell coaches Mike Urso and DJ Nimphius spread the word and raised some bucks for Gregory as well.

"We knew he was in a tough spot and he's given so much of his time and energy to our kids we just felt like we needed to do something," said Dunn. "He's gotten an incredible response from the Northern Valley community."

Gregory, 50, stayed with some friends in Englewood for a while, but now has found an apartment in Dumont. When I talked to him last week, Pascack Valley track coach John Murtaugh was giving Gregory a bed frame. Monday, he was having some chairs reupholstered that another friend had given him. The Englewood Fire Department gave him some XXL clothes.

"I am grateful, you know, I could have been in the house [when it caught fire]," said Gregory. "Pete and I are peas in a pod. We are the same type of people. He texted me and said 'Stop being [stubborn], people would love to help you.' I can't complain at all. Everything is going very well."

Gregory is going to retire soon from his job as a corrections officer in Newark, but still coach. The last few weeks have showed him how much Old Tappan and the track community care about him. After all this time of helping kids focus on just themselves and getting better one day at a time, it's a surprise to him to see them pay it back above and beyond.